Reality Check
by ApprenticeTrashmen
Summary: Because everyone needs one once in a while. A cross tag related drabble.
1. There Goes Some New Challengers

**I don't own any franchises mentioend here. If I did, BlazBlue would be crossed with Guilty Gear and we wouldn't be having this problem.**

 **Enjoy, people with a sense of humor.**

* * *

"Ah, now this looks interesting!"

"We can't afford to lose this fight."

"Get in my—"

"Right. Who are you people again?" Ragna drawled out while digging his finger in his ear. He really couldn't be less interested, but it didn't kill him to be polite. Not yet, anyway.

"I'm Ruby Rose! Nice to meet ya!"

"And my name is Yu Narukami."

"I—"

"Mmhm, yeah, that's cool." Ragna cut off the odd-looking boy. "Gotta say, I honestly don't care, but you know what? My fault for asking. Let's try this again. What are you people doing here?"

"Right! Well, it looks like something pulled our worlds together." Ruby spoke.

"And now it's up to us to investigate what happened." Yu added on.

"We will have to—"

Ragna's hand shot up, signaling to the three that he was going to need a minute. Preferably far more than a minute, actually, but this seemed like a chatty bunch. The criminal was certainly no stranger to bullshit, but he never had to like it. In fact, his bullshit tolerance has gone down over the years if anything.

And this was about his limit.

"Just…just tell me what you know." Ragna sighed. He figured he might as well see if these kids dug anything up.

"Well, I can't speak for everyone here, but I heard a mysterious voice in my head. It said something about a keystone…" Yu said.

"Keystone, sounds stupid, I got it." Ragna turned on his heel and began to walk off.

"Hey, whoa, where are you going?" Ruby called out.

"Yeah, you shouldn't count us out. We're all in this together, so we should work together." Yu added on.

"You—"

"Look…" Ragna began as he came to a stop. "Don't take offense, or do its whatever, but even if I did need help I wouldn't be getting it from a group of kids. So, why don't you lot just go ahead and make yourselves scarce, yeah?"

"Hey, hey, don't try and sell us short." Ruby whined, making Ragna's eye twitch. Honestly, did they think he was a babysitter or something? Clearly they didn't know how to take a hint.

"I mean, you are short, so…"

"I guess what you need…is a demonstration." Yu said with a slow grin spreading across his face. He raised his hand and a blue care materialized. "Persona!"

In one swift motion, Yu crushed the card and, in a flash, the ghostly image of a warrior in a long coat appeared behind him.

"Whoa! That's awesome!" Ruby cheered.

Yu brandished his sword and the ghostly image did the same as the two struck a simple pose.

"So, as you can see, I'm no ordinary kid." Yu said.

"Eh." Ragna blinked, unimpressed.

Which left Yu rather deflated. "E-Eh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Yeah, I dunno, kid." Ragna scratched his head as he turned back to the group. "It's just that when I think about a spirit that is always standing by your side I think it's something…cooler than this."

"H-Hey! There is nothing wrong with Izanagi!" Yu stammered out in defense.

"Pfft, really? That's what you call it? Real original, champ. You come up with that one yourself or did you run into my edgy kid sister on the way over?" Ragna snickered.

"What would you call it then!?" Yu questioned as Izanagi faded away, just as dejected as his human counterpart.

"I fight with my own two hands, so it's not my problem. Though I guess if you really made me think about it then maybe something…music related? Seems like that could be pretty fun." The criminal offered.

"That's…that's actually a good idea…" Yu knew he couldn't argue with that one. He needed to reevaluate some things.

Which left the stage open for Ruby.

"I guess a Persona doesn't do it for you, but I think I have something that will make you do more than blink!" With a flourish, the girl brandished her own weapon. She twirled around her oversized scythe and struck a pose of her own. "So, what do you have to say now? Based on that nifty sword strapped at your hip, I bet weapons are more your speed. Am I right?"

"Nope." Ragna shrugged, finding it more entertaining to birdwatch at the moment.

"H-Huh?" Ruby nearly lost her grip on her weapon.

"Look, this thing here," Ragna said, patting the handle of his sword. "Doesn't prove anything. It was just a gift. If someone didn't give it to me, I would just use whatever blunt object I could find. To be totally honest, I don't think weapons are that interesting. They're just tools."

"W-Well…have you ever seen some old tool do this!" Ruby spun her scythe and it became a gun.

"Multiple tools in one? Yeah, it's called a pocket knife, and kids get them all the time. Which brings me back to my original point…"

"U-Unbelievable… How can anyone be such a downer…?" Ruby questioned aloud as she put away her prized weapon.

Which only left one.

"I—"

"Let me guess. Your stupid looking hair has to do with whatever power you got." Ragna cut the boy off yet again.

"Hey—"

"Seriously, let me spell it out for you lot as plainly as I can: I. Don't. Care!" Ragna barked, his patience at an all-time low. "I'm sure you kids are all real special where you come from, but where I come from you just don't stack up. So, for the last time, beat it. I'm gonna track down whoever is talking about this magic rock or whatever, yank their head off, and I'll be doing it on my own."

"Wait…" Ruby spoke up. "Are you saying you are going to…"

"Kill them, yes." Ragna rubbed his temples in frustration. That last line was supposed to end this conversation.

"Hold on, you can't do that!" Ruby declared.

"What? Sure I can. Just gotta grab their head, twist it and then pull. Its super easy." Ragna said with the very height of nonchalance.

"What she meant is you can't murder someone!" Yu said, stepping forward.

"Uh, little late for that one." Ragna replied.

"Are you actually saying that you—"

"Killed more people than the three of you ever met put together? Sure did. I'm not exactly wanted for jaywalking, if you catch my drift."

"O-Oh…" And just like that, it occurred to the kids they didn't really know who they were dealing with in the first place.

Yu, in particular, was having a moment of realization considering he and his friends put their lives on the line to stop a man who only killed two people where as Ragna had killed a whole hell of a lot more than two. Seemed more than a little odd for him to even want to be in the same room, let alone work with, someone like that.

It was just common sense, no?

"Anyway, I'm out. This dumb little game we're playing here sucks and I really don't feel like doing it anymore. I'm gonna go fix this problem, so, bye." The criminal said, turning to leave. "Oh, and just some advice, turn tail and run if you see anyone from my world. Based on what I just saw, it wouldn't go well for you guys and not everyone is as nice as me where I come from." And with that, Ragna left the trio in his dust.

This left the group to contemplate their options.

"Hey, we all agree that guy is a real jerk, right?" Ruby asked the boys.

"More than that, I feel like he might have a hand in this mess. That, or he might make it worse. Someone who kills so easily can't be up to any good." Yu reasoned.

"I can't argue with that… What do you think, Hyde?" Ruby turned to the strangely quiet boy.

"Well, if you ask me—"

"REAPER!" Just then, a screaming man fell from the sky and slammed into the ground, spooking the teenagers. Once the smoke cleared, none other than the 'Mad Dog' Azrael was revealed in the middle of the crater he created with the biggest smile ever on his face. "I know you're around, Reaper! I can smell ya!"

"W-Who are you!?" Ruby shrieked.

Azrael cast his gaze down at the children before him and his expression immediately dropped.

"Oh, damn, more of you people. And here I thought I was finally catching up on the reaper." The big pupper sighed.

"Hey, wait a second, what did you mean by 'more of you people' exactly?" Yu questioned with a nervous edge in his voice.

All it took was a couple of big steps for Azrael to exit the crater and with the shake of his head he regarded the group of kids before him.

"To be frank, I've been running around all day. When I caught wind of this whole universal crossover thing, I got excited to have so many new opponents. Too bad for me they all turned out to be a bunch of pansies. Everyone from that colorful group of girls to those uniformed kids couldn't even count as appetizers. I thought I had finally had some luck and run across the reaper earlier, but when I got closer turned out I was wrong. He actually looked a lot like the black knight too, but he went down way too easy for that to be true." The mad dog lowered his head and shook in in shame. "Either way, this whole thing turned out to be one big disappointment, so I decided to look for Ragna the Bloodedge instead. I don't suppose you kids have seen him, have you?"

"Forget about that!" Ruby yelled, pulling her scythe back out. "You said colorful group of girls… What did they look like!?"

"Hm? Well, one was blonde, another had white hair, and the last one was a beastkin. They were all so flashy I thought they would put up a fight. Didn't live up to the hype though. Not much flavor to them." Azrael shrugged.

"And the uniformed kids!?" Yu gripped his sword in anger.

"Yeah… Yeah, it was actually the same as yours. They all summoned these big ghostly beings. Seemed promising at first, but get this; as soon as I gave them a little smack they went right down. Guess they weren't ripe yet." Azrael looked over his knuckles, depressed. At this rate they were going to gather dust.

"And did you see—"

"You know, kid, you seem familiar for some reason." Azrael rubbed his chin in contemplation. "Remind me of some of those otherworldly people. Don't know what it is, but something about you seems…off. Like something about your looks. Can't put my finger on it though."

"Enough! I don't care about any of that! You hurt my friends!" Ruby screamed, aiming her scythe at the older man.

"I'll make you pay for what you did to my friends!" Yu called Izanagi back out.

"I'm sick of this disrespect…I—" Hyde was silenced by Azrael cracking his knuckles.

"Fine, fine, I hear you all loud and clear. Who knows, maybe being a little riled up will make you three put up a better fight than the rest. Then, when I'm done here, I can keep looking for the reaper!" The trio charged forward, ready to avenge their precious friends as Azrael opened his arms wide in a welcoming manner. "Don't you go disappointing me, too!"

* * *

"Anyway, they didn't put up much of a fight and I took the key brick or whatever it was called." Ragna explained casually.

"Honestly, Ragna, I would almost be impressed by how efficiently you handled the situation if it weren't for how underwhelming it all was in the first place." Rachel huffed in response.

"You're tellin' me…"

"At any rate, you said you needed my help with a certain matter. Do you mind explaining to me what exactly that would be?" The vampire questioned.

"Aww, what's wrong? Don't like being left in the dark?" Ragna couldn't help but grin as he leaned in toward the woman.

"Please." Rachel lightly shoved Ragna back. "When I do it, it is considered whimsical. When you do it, it's asinine."

"Sounds like a double standard to me." Ragna hummed.

"Sounds like you should begin explaining what you want of me before I am forced to slap you across the face like a petulant child and return to my castle for tea, boy."

"Fine, fine." Ragna chuckled a bit. "I don't know if things are gonna get fixed on their own or not, but I just wanted you to send some of the kids I ran into back to their worlds. Who knows how long till they piss off the wrong person and get themselves killed."

"My, aren't you the considerate one. You do know if you truly wanted to keep them safe you would have kept them closer to you, correct?" Rachel pointed out.

"Yeah, well, just because I don't want someone to die doesn't mean I gotta be attached at the hip. Besides, I had my fair share of playing bodyguard, thank you very much." The criminal groaned, recalling some of his less pleasant tasks.

"Hm, I suppose you have. Now, as for these children, where are they supposed to be?"

"That's the thing, I could've sworn I ditched them right around here. They could've wandered off but I wasn't even gone that long. Wonder where they might be." Ragna scratched his head. Though come to think of it, he realized he hadn't seen any of their otherworldly visitors.

Just then, Rachel was able to figure out what had happened.

"Oh dear… I think I found your answer, Ragna."

"Hm? Oh, for the love of…!" Ragna looked up and had to smack himself in the face. There stood Azrael, not a scratch on him as he picked his teeth with a set of broken glasses. "Don't tell me you—"

"Reaper! So good to see you! Just when I was worried I would fill up on snacks you just so happen to appear. I dare say it must be fate!" A big smile once again found its way onto Azrael's face as he flicked the glasses away. "Though I gotta say, even if all these weaklings amounted to a meal, I'd always have room for you, Reaper!"

"First of all, gross. Second of all, GROSS! They were just a bunch of stupid kids, you animal!" Ragna yelled.

"Technically they attacked me first so, you know, self-defense." Azrael shrugged in response. "But enough about that, you and I have plenty of catching up to do!"

"Well, Ragan, you heard the man. Chop, chop." Rachel clapped her hands as she gestured to the hulking man before them, causing Ragna to do a double take

"Wait, what? Whose side are you on!? You know this dude is insane, right?"

"Indeed, but how could I ever pass up on a front row seat to a show of this caliber? Besides," Rachel continued as she materialized her chair to get more comfortable. "I have the utmost faith that you will be victorious."

"Well ain't you sweet…" Ragna groaned as he moved away from the vampire to face Azrael.

"You should listen to your woman, reaper, and enjoy things more!" The mad dog laughed.

"She's not my…you know what? Whatever." Ragna grabbed hold of his sword and raised his right hand. "I'm gonna be stuck killing you sooner or later so no time like the present."

"That's the spirit!" Azrael roared as he flexed his tattoos away. Ragna followed suit as darkness exploded from his right hand.

Rachel summoned some tea to sip as she observed the battle unfolding before her.

"That convergence of universes may have amounted to nothing as expected, but I suppose it wasn't a complete waste of time. At least it has offered the chance to witness a spectacle such as this once more. And, oh, how I have looked forward to it."

Ragna and Azrael wasted no more time and threw themselves forward with resounding roars.

"Let's go!"

* * *

 **It hurt me to write this. I actually like Kanji :(**


	2. The Ultimate Tag Team

**A moment of silence for the H-Man...**

 **Moment over. Try and have some fun this time, yeah?**

 **I don't own BlazBlue or the other ones.**

* * *

Hakumen stomped forward, clenched fists trembling at his sides.

He wasn't dealing with this today.

"You there, sir!" The robot girl, Aigis, called out as she flew down from the sky. "I was hoping you could tell me if—"

"No." Hakumen passed her without breaking stride. Whatever she wanted of him was of no consequence to the ancient hero.

"Excuse me, you there." A young girl in blue, Naoto, jogged up next to Hakumen. "If you had the time—"

"I don't." Hakumen increased his walking speed, easily outpacing the teenager and leaving her in his dust. He had no idea where all these strangers were getting the impression he was looking to make friends.

Just then, the white knight's path was blocked once more as a large man with giants claws for arms landed before him.

"Alright… Let's have some—ACK!" Waldstein was cut off when Hakumen drove his fist into the giant's throat, still not so much as slowing down.

That was more than enough of these outsiders.

He had no idea where they all came from, but he did not care. They had nothing to do with him and he fully intended to keep it that way no matter how hard they tried otherwise.

Hakumen was certain that all he had to do was remove whatever was causing the worlds to converge and his latest headache would be dealt with. A simple task he could handle with ease single-handed, he was sure of it.

There weren't many things he _couldn't_ accomplish on his own, after all.

"For the last time, I'm not turning around! Just tell me if he's still there or not!" Hakumen heard a gruff voice call out.

"Very well, you coward. You lost him about five minutes ago." A regal, and equally unwelcomed voice replied.

It was Ragna the Bloodedge who came crashing into Hakumen's line of sight with one Rachel Alucard perched on his shoulder. There was not a hair out of place on her head, as expected, but Ragna looked remarkably disheveled.

Regardless of their condition, Hakumen could not stop the sigh of relief that escaped his mouth upon finally running into the familiar faces.

Wait, relief?

Disgusted with himself for actually being glad to see the pair, Hakumen quickly buried both feelings and approached them.

"Vampire." He greeted, curt as ever while also ignoring Ragna completely, though the criminal was first to respond.

"Oh, come on! You are the last…" Ragna trailed off a moment in silent contemplation. " _One of_ the last things I need right now!"

"My, fancy running into you here, Mr. Hero. What brings you into our neck of the woods?" Rachel greeted, too comfortable to be moved from her spot.

"Don't bother with such foolish questioning. What do you know of the asinine events currently happening and how do I stop them?" Hakumen questioned, never one to beat around the bush.

"Funny you should ask such a thing, actually, as both are rather foolish questions in their own rights." Rachel said before patting Ragna on the head. "This boy here has already handled the situation."

"He did?" Hakumen leveled his eyeless gaze on Ragna. "You did?"

"You don't gotta be so surprised about it, you know? There was just this lunatic raving about these cheap looking rocks. Easy." Ragna shrugged, though Hakumen was suspicious.

"And you are certain they won't be capable of trying anything else?"

"Well…let's just say they aren't gonna be great at much else besides being a jack-o-lantern." The criminal grinned.

"Hmph, quick and efficient. I'm surprised." Hakumen admitted, though there was still something that was grabbing his attention. "Even so, were they truly able to put you in such a state? Have these outsiders really caused you such trouble?"

"What are you…? Who the hell do you think I am!? A bunch of kids could never touch me even if I bothered dealing with them!" Ragna barked back.

"Then how do you explain this?" The hero gestured to Ragna's appearance.

"Oh, this? After I ditched the dead weight and fixed the problem, you're welcome, I went back to get the kids sent home but apparently they were dumb enough to pick a fight with Azrael." The man of Azure explained.

"So, the mad dog is involved as well…"

"Yeah, and I was gonna kick his sorry ass but things got…weird, look, I don't really wanna talk about it, okay!?" Ragna sweated over the mere thought of what had transpired.

"After that he ran not unlike a dog with his tail between his legs." Rachel chimed in with a smile.

"Listen, you…!"

Hakumen tuned them out after that as they bantered with each other. A very, very small part of him was glad to hear it was Azrael that Ragna had struggled against rather than the strange outsiders. He would've felt ashamed being more or less equal to the dark one if that weren't the case. Despite being in the presence of two he did not remotely care for, Hakumen did also feel himself relax knowing this ridiculous business was soon to come to an end as well.

"Stop right there."

The trio turned to see a blonde woman, Es, lower down from the sky.

"Hm? Friend of yours?" Ragna asked, turning to Hakumen.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. You should know such a thing is far more likely for you than it is for I." The hero replied.

"That is certainly up for debate." Rachel spoke, turning her nose to the sky.

"Who I am can wait for the time being." Es said as she began to approach them. "Hear my words—"

"I FOUND YOU, REAPER!" Before Es could finish her thought, a coatless Azrael rushed onto the scene and shoulder checked her clear out of sight. Easy come, easy go. "You wait your turn, lady! I had my eyes on the reaper first!"

"Goddamn son of a bitch…" Ragna groaned as he set Rachel down. "At least he put his pants back on."

"Yeah, you're a lucky one, reaper. I could've caught up to you no problem if they weren't caught around my ankles." Azrael explained as if it were normal.

"Don't go taking them off then!"

Yes, Hakumen definitely did not want to know what had happened before.

"Oh no, you know that isn't how things work between us! You wanna make me do anything it will be through a fight!" The mad dog declared, throwing his arms out.

"Enough of this." Hakumen said as he stepped forward, brandishing his sword. "I will handle this as the dark one is clearly incapable."

"Hey! I didn't run because I needed to! I ran because this guy is a freak!" Ragna argued, but Hakumen ignored him as he took his fighting stance.

"I do not care for your excuses. Stand back and I will deal with this matter myself."

Never one to be outdone, Ragna stomped forward as he straightened himself up and cracked his knuckles.

"If anyone should stand back it should be _you_. I put a stop to the traveling circus by myself and I can get rid of this creep too."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! No need to fight over me, guys! I'll be happy to fight you both! I mean, the infamous grim reaper and the legendary leader of the Six Heroes? I can hardly contain myself!" Azrael was already drooling at the thought with glee as his tattoos faded away.

"You better keep your pants on this time!" Ragna grabbed hold of his sword as he took a fighting stance of his own and glancing at Hakumen. "Seriously though, lets kill this maniac quick. I _really_ don't want him doing any messed-up shit again."

"As much as it pains me to say it, I can agree with that much."

Rachel clapped her hands as she materialized a chair for herself.

"What an excellent turn of events. I must say, I have been hoping to see you two fight side by side for some time now. I was hard pressed to think of such an occasion to make men as stubborn as yourselves behave so I am quite pleased to see the opportunity present itself."

"Could you at least pretend you want to help for a change!?" Ragna shouted back at the vampire.

"Eyes front, boy. You don't want to keep your dance partners waiting, do you?" Rachel waved him off.

"The vampire speaks sense for a change, Dark One. Focus on the task at hand. However, afterward…" Hakumen tilted his head in Ragna's direction. "You and I will settle our score as well."

Despite the promise of an especially grueling fight to come, Ragna flashed his teeth in a grin.

"Some things never change, huh? Fine by me. Let's trash this mutt and then I'll kick your ass again while I'm at it."

"Hmph, we shall see about that."

"You know, if I didn't know any better I would think the two of you were looking forward to dueling once again. Boys will be boys, I suppose." Rachel smiled knowingly.

"Enough chatter! Enchant Dragonov Level 4…RELEASE!" Azrael roared unleashing his full power right from the start as he threw himself forward. "I'll teach you both the true meaning of power!"

"Only thing you're gonna do is die!"

"Your end has come!"

With swords drawn and matching battle cries, Ragna and Hakumen charged forward to meet their opponent with all their might.

The unstoppable force and the immovable object fighting side by side.

Who could ever ask for more?

* * *

 **It should go without saying how everone is entitled to their own opinion, but if you think any other team up in cross tag could be half as cool as Ragna and Hakumen then you're wrong.**


	3. All Things (Mercifully) End

**So, what had happened was I had seen someone (understandably) complaining about the main boss in cross tag, and say they thought Terumi was gonna be in it or something.**

 **See where I'm going with this?**

 **I don't own BlazBlue.**

* * *

"I can't believe you ran…"

"Surely you jest. It was you who fled first after the mad dog…disrobed."

"Fuck off with that. You turned tail the second his pants came off."

"Your lies need work, Dark One. You retreated just as you admitted doing in your previous encounter, you coward."

"Oh, is that right!?"

Rachel huffed from her spot a few paces away from the bickering warriors. She could not believe her fun was spoiled not once, but twice in a single day like this. In such a similar way, at that. She couldn't even enjoy Ragna and Hakumen arguing like a pair of brothers they didn't know or acknowledge they were, respectively, given the mood she was in.

"Enough." Rachel ordered, rising to her feet. "You both ran simultaneously."

"Hey! Whose side are you on!?" Ragna barked.

"Even if it were true, which it is not, I refuse to take part in a pitiful excuse for a battle such as what that had devolved into." Hakumen countered, arms crossed.

"Yeah, same here. That shits nasty, rabbit."

Rachel had to roll her eyes at the boys' behavior. So, Azrael was a slightly freer spirit than what they were accustomed to. So, what?

The prudes.

"Regardless of your excuses, I say it is high time we put an end to the charade. I had given this little game the benefit of the doubt when I saw the possibility of something entertaining forming before my eyes, but clearly, I was mistaken. I not have doubted my initial reaction after all. Let this be a lesson as to why you should never doubt a woman's intuition."

"That ain't special, Rachel. We could all tell this was a waste of time from the start." Ragna said and even earned a nod of approval from Hakumen.

"So, I can see the two of you can get along when provided a common enemy. No matter. We shall gather the survivors from the other worlds and send them home before doing the same ourselves." Rachel shrugged. No reason to not prevent even more blood from being spilled this day.

"Good luck with that."

"Be quick about it."

Though it would seem both Ragna and Hakumen had other ideas as they were both turning to leave, causing the vampire to do a double-take.

"Hold! What do you think you are doing? Did I not just say we have work to do?"

"No. _You_ have work to do. Neither of us have the ability to teleport. This is a task for you, and you alone." The white knight reasoned.

"And you threw me under the bus with Azrael twice already so I'm just go ahead and say not my problem." Ragna followed up.

"Ah, but that is where the both of you are severely mistaken. Hakumen, are you not morally obligated to assist the weak and innocent. Hmm, _Mr. Hero_?" Rachel pointed out, earning a grumble from the very hero in question. Ragna openly snickered next at him, so Rachel aimed her steely gaze at the criminal next. "And you, boy, will simply do as I say."

"Alright, alright. Don't gotta pull rank on me, sheesh." Ragna knew better then to argue with Rachel when she put on her 'no nonsense' voice.

"Good. Now that we have reached an understating, let us be done with this so I may return home and enjoy a fresh cup of tea. Perhaps if you two do an adequate job I will invite you along as well." Rachel offered.

"Pass."

"Not interested."

Ragna and Hakumen replied simultaneously.

Rachel rolled her eyes but expected as much. She imagined she would still be able to coax Ragna over though. She may not have anything to sweeten the deal with Hakumen, but Ragna was never one to turn down free food. However, that was a matter to be dealt with later. In the now, the trio was just about to set off when someone called out to them.

"Ah, there she is! Just the lady I was lookin' for."

The three turned to see none other than Jubei approaching them with a small group of the other worldly visitors.

"My, what excellent timing you have, Jubei. We were just about to go on the search for our unexpected guests." Rachel smiled.

"Talk about a coincidence, huh? Well, here, let me introduce everyone. This 'ere is Kanji, Naoto, Aegis, Linne, and Waldstein." Jubei pointed to the group one at a time and everyone awkwardly said hello except for Waldstein who was still busy nursing his bruised throat. Not that he or Hakumen acknowledged it at all.

"Mmhm, sure. Anyway, for real, you're a life saver, master. This was shaping up to be an even bigger pain in the ass than it already was." Ragna said, not bothering with the introductions, which earned a shake of the head from Jubei.

"C'mon, kid, put yerself in their shoes for a minute. Things are dangerous 'round here and not everyone is as strong as you, get me? Heck, if I hadn't come along when I did this lot here might've got done in by Nu."

"You mean to tell me even with numbers they still struggled with a single Murakumo? Hmph." Hakumen huffed in clear disapproval.

"Aw, not you too, Hakumen." Jubei had to shake his head at these hard-headed guys. Nothing he could do about Hakumen, he supposed, but he would have to sit Ragna down and teach him about a little thing called empathy when he got the chance.

"I'm afraid you are barking up the wrong tree, as they say. These two have been less interested in helping our unfortunate guests. Ragna even left some to fend for themselves against _Azrael_ of all people!" Rachel carried on in mock horror.

"Boy!" Jubei reacted in actual horror.

"W-What!? I told them not to do a thing and then they did the thing! And Azrael doesn't pick fights with weak people so its not my fault!" Ragna spins to stick his face in Rachel's. "Stop trying to get me in trouble!"

"Very well. I've had my fun." Rachel giggled slightly as she pushed Ragna back before turning to the group in front of her. "Now, everyone, if you would be so kind as to close your eyes and visualize your respective homes you shall be there momentarily."

"Hey! Hold up for a minute! I'm not seeing all my friends here!" Kanji yelled, stepping up.

"That's correct. I at the very least know our friend, Yu Narukami, was involved in this event." Added on Naoto. "He has gray hair and a uniform like Kanji's."

"Hm? Oh… OH!" Ragna stuttered when he realized who the kids were talking about. The criminal did _not_ wanna tell these two he found a guy picking his teeth with their friend's glasses, that much was for sure. He didn't know how to so much as begin explaining that one. "He…um, yeah, he's fine. Totally. He went home earlier."

"You serious?" Kanji questioned, clearly and rightfully suspicious.

"Mmhmm., definitely." Ragna hummed before leaning over to Hakumen slightly, lowering his voice. "Suuuuuper dead."

Hakumen only gave a nod of understanding in reply.

"Thank goodness…" Naoto sighed in relief along with Kanji, unaware of Ragna's fib.

And it was going to stay that way for Rachel clapped her hands to bring everyone back to attention.

"Now, then, if we are all quite content with things I will send you all on your respective ways. Once more, visualize your homes and you shall be there before you know it."

Doing as they were instructed, and with a wave from Jubei (and only Jubei), the otherworldly visitors were teleported away in a rush of wind likely to never be seen again.

"Well, that there takes care of that." Jubei waddled his way over to his apathetic trio of friends so they too could be on their way. "Nothin' to be done about it but shame we couldn't get to everyone before trouble kicked up."

"Like I already said, I warned them to keep their heads down. Can't fix stupid." Ragna shrugged.

"I wouldn't know about that, son. Raised you, didn't I?" The cat shot back with a grin.

"I fear I must disagree, Jubei. I was there as well and I believe Ragna has made a valid point." The vampire said with a matching smile, making Ragna's eye twitch.

"You—"

"Enough." Hakumen interjected. "Carry on with your asinine performance once we return to our world and I can be rid of you."

"Heh, never can stop and smell the roses, can ya?" Jubei said.

"Oh, and speaking of which, would you like to join Ragna and I for some tea, Jubei?" Rachel asked out of the blue.

"Shoot, if ya don't mind me intrudin' on the two of ya, I'd love some." His tails swished happily along at the thought. Valkenhayn could make a mean pot of tea, after all.

"You know Inever agreed to come along, right?" Ragna pointed out, but even he figured Rachel was going to rope him in one way or another.

"Hush, I will find something for you snack on along with your tea. Interested now?" Rachel questioned, reaching out to give Ragna tap on the nose. The man of Azure grumbled, scratching the same spot, but Rachel knew that was his body language for 'yes'. "Lovely. Now then, let us—"

"W-Wait!"

Before our heroes could return to their home for some well-earned relaxation, they were called out to by Es as she dragged herself toward them along the ground. Clearly, she was still in bad shape from Azrael's rough housing earlier.

"Hey, look, its your friend." Ragna said as he elbowed Hakumen. He may wear a mask, but anyone could tell Hakumen shot the criminal a glare for that one. However, before the two could start arguing again, Jubei marched forward. Always the kind soul, he leaned down to check on the injured girl.

"Hey there, missy. Ya alright? Need a trip back to yer world like the others?"

"T-That can…can wait…!" Es rasped out. "We…we n-need to stop the…others from return…returning to their worlds before its t-too late!"

"Stop them? Why would ya wanna do that?" The cat questioned.

"Its…their universes! We were too late, and…they were e-erased by him!" Es' declaration as she passed out made everyone flinch back in surprise. With how underwhelming and silly everything taking place was, the gang never considered something so dire could take place. And it brought into question as to who could possibly pull something like that off.

Rachel blinked, curious for a second before a thought formed.

"Oh, dear god, please don't tell me—"

"Surprise, bitches!"

That's right. It was the one and only…

"TERUMI!" Ragna, Hakumen, and Jubei all yelled in unison at the fiend who stood on a ledge above them all villainous and what not.

"And it isn't a surprise if it is obvious, you buffoon." Rachel groaned, massaging her temples.

"Is that right?" Terumi sneered, leaning forward with his elbow resting on his knee as he lifted his hood up. "Well, if it was so _obvious_ then how come no one came to stop me, huh, you shit vampire?!"

"Forget about that! What happened to those kids we just sent back!?" Jubei demanded.

"Hm? I dunno. I guess it depends if you think the void of nonexistence stings or not." Terumi had to throw his head back and howl at that one.

"Why…just why would you do such a thing!?" Jubei roared, Ragna and Hakumen preparing for a fight just behind him. Terumi just had to groan at the cat's rage.

"I do _not_ know why the fuck you people still feel the need to ask me stuff like that… Ya ain't getting a sad backstory out of me so just give it up already!"

"In truth, I am more curious as to the how and why you would even bother with all of this." Rachel asked, hand on her hip.

"Ah! Now that I can have some fun answering! So, there I was throwing some trash into the Boundary…" Terumi crouched down and spread his arms out like he was about to recite some epic tale. "You know, stuff like old paper work, various abominations that expired around the lab, Relius' lunch and all that. That's when I noticed something funky. I realized I was able to peer into paths leading to other worlds. Weird, right? Well, I figured I had an afternoon to kill so I jumped on in!"

"Wait, you just _saw_ other worlds? How?" Hakumen questioned.

"Fuck you that's how, and no talking during story time, H-Man! But, where was I? Oh, yes, I go ahead and stroll into the first one, and you know what? It was crazy familiar. They had a lot of the same shit we do but just named it different things. Like, they called the Boundary the 'Backyard' or something like that. For real, though? Even a guy like me found it interesting. The place was filled to brim with potential and seemed like it could mesh flawlessly with our own world, too."

"So? What gives? How come we didn't run into any of those guys?" Ragna asked.

"Rags, I swear to me, I am gonna smack you in the mouth if you interrupt me again. As I was aboutto say before I was so _rudely_ interrupted, I moved along for one simple reason. Some of the individuals I came across seemed a little too how do we say…problematic. I mean, their Rags equivalent actually seemed capable. Hell, even their ninjas seemed to be worth more than a sack of shit! So, I just kept on my merry way until I found the 'C Team' of the multiverse. One look and I knew they were populated by a bunch of pushovers, and I figured why not? Destroying some worlds ain't a bad when to spend an afternoon if I do say so myself."

"So ya cleared out the warriors of those worlds so you could destroy 'em!?" Jubei accused.

"Hm? Oh, no, no, no! Don't get it twisted, kitty. It wasn't like I couldn't have pulled it off with them around. I mean, you guys saw how weak they were first hand, after all. Nah, I did that to keep you assholes preoccupied while I worked. Didn't need you to come looking for me, and based on my impression of the places, I figured they would be real annoying to deal with, too. Was I right? Huh, huh?"

"One last question." Rachel spoke, completely ignoring Terumi's taunts. "If you went through all the trouble of removing us in the first place, why not make an attempt to destroy our own world?"

"Well, where is the fun in that? Just wouldn't feel right erasing reality without being able to see you lot die with it, you know? Damn, look at me getting all sentimental, ha, ha!" Terumi snickered. "That, and never hurts to take a few practices swings. Call those worlds a warm up for me to actually give a shit."

"You scumbag… You actually think we are gonna let you get away with this!?" Ragna questioned.

"Oh, zip it, Rags. You only climb up on that high horse of yours when I'm involved because you are a spiteful little shit."

"Whatever reason it may be, the point does stand. We _will_ make you suffer for what you've done today and every other atrocity you've committed." Hakumen declared.

Terumi just had to smile. How could he not as he stared down at the team of angry fools before him? Pissing them off truly was his only joy in the world. They made it so easy, too! He could tell that even the high and mighty Rachel was bothered by the fact he effortlessly managed to end multiple worlds and the countless lives that inhabited them. Well, all the more fun for him, he decided as he rose to his feet and tugged his hood back in place.

"Look at that, we agree about something, H-Man. Alrighty then, our detour is over now. You all may have thought of it as a waste of time, but I got a good laugh out of it. Though in all fairness you were the ones who had to babysit while I got to do all the killin', and by extension have all the fun, of course. What do you say we get back to it, though? The REAL fun?"

"Oh, it'll be fun alright… Fun when I ring your fuckin' neck!" Ragna shouted as he threw himself forward ahead of Jubei and Hakumen to lash out at Terumi.

Terumi's smile was out in full force as he brandished a knife to block Ragna's sword swing. He followed up with a kick and while Ragna was quick enough to block it, it still pushed him back.

"Look forward to seeing you try and fail as always, Rags! Meet ya back at home sweet home!" Terumi's laugh echoed as he was teleported away in the blink of an eye.

Ragna wasted no time and quickly jumped back to where he was.

"That tea is gonna have to wait, Rachel! Let's get after him!" He called out.

"I concur, Ragna. We haven't a moment to waste." Rachel agreed.

All it took was a quick wave of her hand and they were off in hot pursuit, intent on bringing Terumi down once and for all. Ragna and Hakumen would have another chance to prove there is nothing greater than their combined might, and with added help from Jubei and Rachel they were sure to succeed in the end.

Cannot escape from crossing fate?

Too bad defiance is what this team excels at.

* * *

 **Last one, I promise. Kinda has to be thanks to that scamp Terumi, eh? Leave a review if you want.**


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